Digital Storytelling and Nigerian Literary Culture: Platforms, Audiences, and the New Literary Public Sphere

This study analyses the emergence and development of digital storytelling platforms as a transformative force in Nigerian literary culture, examining how platforms including Wattpad, Okadabooks, Brittle Paper, and social media fiction communities are reshaping literary production, distribution, and reception in ways that challenge traditional publishing hierarchies. The Nigerian literary landscape has historically been defined by the gatekeeping power of established publishers, both international and domestic, but the digital turn has enabled new classes of writers, particularly young, female, and geographically marginalised voices, to reach readers directly, creating what the study terms a new digital literary public sphere. The study employs a combination of platform analysis, author interviews, and reader response data. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 digital fiction authors active on Nigerian platforms, and questionnaire surveys of 150 regular digital fiction readers were administered online. Platform content analysis examines genre distribution, author demographics, and reader engagement metrics on the three primary platforms. Findings reveal that digital storytelling has dramatically expanded the range of genres and perspectives represented in Nigerian literary culture, with romance fiction, speculative fiction, and LGBTQ-inclusive narratives finding readerships that print publishers have historically declined to serve. The economic models of digital platforms offer modest but meaningful income streams for prolific digital authors. The study argues that digital storytelling represents a genuine literary cultural revolution deserving serious academic attention. Keywords: digital storytelling, Nigerian literary culture, Okadabooks, publishing, digital public sphere.